# Really creepy movies that aren't horror movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268 "2008-02-26T19:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/1 "2008-02-26T19:42:40Z")
I watched [Tideland](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410764/) today and my two-word reaction was (pardon my language), and I quote, “ **Jesus FUCK!** ” It was tough to finish that movie, not because it was bad, but because my skin was just _crawling_. I really need to get to sleep sometime this afternoon so I can get to work tonight, but… uh, yeah. I realize that “horror” is one of the IMDB designations for that movie, but it’s not the primary one and it’s certainly not what I’d normally think of as a horror movie. I mean, ghosts and goblins and zombies and werewolves don’t freak me out at all. The sickening potential of a diseased human mind does it every time. What are some other more-or-less believable movies that creep you out? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/2 "2008-02-26T19:48:40Z")
[_Alive_](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0106246/) (1993), the true story of a passenger plane that crashed in the high Andes in 1972. The crash itself is unnervingly realistic, and the desperation the passengers faced in that frozen wasteland, with numerous setbacks, was something that haunted me for days after seeing the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/3 "2008-02-26T19:51:16Z")
Cassey Affleck’s character (Robert ford) in the\*\* Assassination of Jesse James\*\* was incredibly unsettling. Yeah **Tideland** is messed up. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/4 "2008-02-26T19:53:19Z")
_The Vanishing_ (also known by its original Dutch title _Spoorloos_), is extremely creepy and unsettling, though it is not a traditional horror movie. I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t want to sleep well at night, but do NOT see the American remake, which has a totally different ending! ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/5 "2008-02-26T19:58:37Z")
Again on the subject of plane crashes, the crash in **Castaway** was frighteningly realistic and preyed on one of my fears - that a crash will happen when I’m in the bathroom of a airplane. I have to block that scene out of my mind when I actually do use a plane loo. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/6 "2008-02-26T20:03:52Z")
_Oldboy_ is revenge porn, not strictly horror. I’m led to believe it’s among the best of its genre. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/7 "2008-02-26T20:11:30Z")
_Rosemary’s Baby_–The only horror in it is the dream sequence. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/8 "2008-02-26T20:17:20Z")
Schindler’s List. I missed the start, but had to turn over after at most 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/9 "2008-02-26T20:26:47Z")
AFAIK, _Pan’s Labyrinth_ has been categorized “dark fantasy” rather than “horror”. Genre classifications aside, it was genuinely terrifying in parts - and most of those parts were those that occurred in the real world, as opposed to the alternate world only Ofelia could see. I didn’t sleep well that night, or for a few nights afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/10 "2008-02-26T20:31:14Z")
_The Woman Chaser_, based on a Charles Willeford novel, creeped me out. Patrick Warburton plays a used-car salesman who wants to make a movie. Using seduction & theft, he achieves his ambition. Then, things go bad… Definitely a neo-_noir_ with tons of black humor, but the actors play this one totally straight. I saw it on Sundance, in black & white. Apparently a VHS was released–in color. No DVD available. (Although I’m not sure I ever want to see it again.) A weird & unsettling little gem. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/11 "2008-02-26T20:44:04Z")
[_Dead Ringers_](http://imdb.com/title/tt0094964/). (And virtually every other movie David Cronenberg ever made.) ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/12 "2008-02-26T20:49:10Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] Cassey Affleck’s character (Robert ford) in the\*\* Assassination of Jesse James\*\* was incredibly unsettling. [/QUOTE] I just watched the movie this weekend and completely agree. His character made me squirm whenever I saw him, even though it’s difficult to put my finger on exactly why. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/13 "2008-02-26T20:55:57Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] _The Vanishing_ (also known by its original Dutch title _Spoorloos_), is extremely creepy and unsettling, though it is not a traditional horror movie. I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t want to sleep well at night, but do NOT see the American remake, which has a totally different ending! [/QUOTE] The American version was bad enough… Jeff Bridges was creepy as all get out. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/14 "2008-02-26T20:58:20Z")
I’m surprised no one brought up Silence of the Lambs. That’s not a horror film, it’s supposed to be a crime movie. But the dark mind of Hannibal Lecter creeped me out for days. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/15 "2008-02-26T21:04:27Z")
I have kind of a low threshold for disturbing and creepy. That said, it took me a week or two to get over _Monster_. That was one disturbing movie. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/16 "2008-02-26T21:12:43Z")
I found **Seconds** to be quite creepy throughout. And the final scene, to me, is one of the most gripping non-horror horror scenes I know of — without there being a single drop of blood spilled. **Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind** has some good creepy dream-like sequences in it. (The guy with two backs to his head. The bookstore with disappearing titles.) The director and cinematographer did a good job of capturing the slippery weirdness of the dream world. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/17 "2008-02-26T21:12:51Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] AFAIK, _Pan’s Labyrinth_ has been categorized “dark fantasy” rather than “horror”. Genre classifications aside, it was genuinely terrifying in parts - and most of those parts were those that occurred in the real world, as opposed to the alternate world only Ofelia could see. I didn’t sleep well that night, or for a few nights afterward. [/QUOTE] Seconded. Fantastic movie, and some day I may summon the courage to watch it again. Utterly, utterly bleak, and truly upsetting, especially if you’re half-prepared for a children’s fantasy movie with a couple of scary bits. I watched it with my wife, and after it was over we just went to bed in silence: we usually talk over a movie after we’ve seen it, but this one just left us numbed. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/18 "2008-02-26T21:27:58Z")
**Eyes Wide Shut** had it’s ‘I think I’ll leave the lights on’ moments. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/19 "2008-02-26T21:37:24Z")
8mm is one of the few movies that have affected my life. I was so creeped out by porn after watching that movie that I gave it up for several years (this was as a high school boy). The scene at the end still enters my nightmares. I think it is technically a crime drama. For any one who cares the other was Jaws. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268/20 "2008-02-26T21:38:02Z")
**Ghost** was creepy as hell. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-creepy-movies-that-arent-horror-movies/439268.md?page=2)